While a full sized upright or canister vacuum cleaners normally are used to do the bulk of the cleaning in the home, there are often needs that can be fulfilled by a lightweight, handheld vacuum cleaner. These vacuum cleaners are available in many different embodiments. A common feature is that they are compact and lightweight such that they can be easily carried around for quick and easy cleaning of, for example, unexpected small spills, upholstered furniture or drapes. They are also advantageous in narrow or limited spaces such as closet floors or stair steps.
In order to facilitate carrying, a hand held vacuum cleaner is usually provided with a handle. One kind of known handle is a through hole extending from one side to another at a rear end of the vacuum cleaner housing. An operator can insert his fingers in the hole and grip around an upper portion of the housing for carrying the vacuum cleaner and moving the vacuum cleaner over a surface to be cleaned.
Furthermore, the housing of a handheld vacuum cleaner is normally spilt in two halves along a vertical center plane, such as in for example the handheld vacuum cleaner described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,548, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Although handhelds vacuum cleaners are relatively lightweight, the weight of the vacuum unit, including a motor and a fan, is still not negligible. Since the handle, for convenience of operation, normally is placed at a rear end of the vacuum cleaner, the weight of the vacuum unit is offset from the handle. Thus, a problem with handheld vacuum cleaners is that the handle is exposed to high stress when the vacuum cleaner is carried and especially, when the direction of movement is swiftly changed, which is common in vacuum cleaning. This may cause the housing to become unstable and fractures may even appear at the handle.
It is an object of the present invention to address one or more of the above-mentioned problems, which may be accomplished by various embodiments of the invention.